Live Coverage – Stage 11 Tour de France, 2008

to VeloNews.com’s Live Coverage of the 11th stage of the 2008 Tour de France, a 167.5-kilometer race from Lannemezan to Foix.

With the GC placings sorted out at Hautacam, and the Pau rest day having given riders time to recover, the attacks are sure to come thick and fast on this final Pyrenean stage. It’s not a particularly difficult one.

The first 90 kilometers from Lannemezan are generally flat and rolling roads along the foot of the mountains with a small trip up the Category 3 Col de Larrieu (at 49.5km). Then the route hits the very narrow Cat. 1 Sommet de Portel (12.6km at 6.8 percent, at 110km), and this is followed by almost 30km of downhill along the scenic Route Verte (the “Green Road”) to Foix before taking a 29km loop, which features a relatively easy ride up the Cat. 3 Co del Bouich (at 145km), before looping around to the other side of Foix to finish in the ancient town center on the tree-lined Cours Gabriel Faure.

There are two intermediate sprints today as well:
Saint-Bertrand de Comminges (at 19.5km)
Prat-Bonrepaux (at 69km)

Riders are scheduled to reach the official start at around 12:35 this afternoon, so it will be a bit before the action gets rolling.

On a disappointing note, the peloton will have one less rider today, as Barloworld’s Moises Duenas has been pulled from the Tour de France after a urine sample provided after stage 4 showed signs of (what else?) EPO.

It’s slightly cloudy today, but there is no threat of rain and the sky should clear up soon. Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-80s and there is a moderate 15kph wind from the Northeast today. For most of the ride, that will be a crosswind, but at this point it’s not strong enough to have a big impact on the stage.

Oscar Freire continues to lead the points race, helped in part by his participation in that break on Monday, in which he scored wins at both intermediate sprints. Now that Kim Kirchen has lost the yellow jersey, we may see him mounting a fight for the green jersey, so it’s worth watching the sprints and, of course, today’s finish.

Overall Points
1. Oscar Freire (ESP), Rabobank 131 pts
2. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia 124
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR), Credit Agricole 105
4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d’Epargne 96
5. Erik Zabel (GER), Milram 92
6. Mark Cavendish (GBR), Team Columbia 86
7. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), Saunier Duval 85
8. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld 82
9. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto 70
10. Romain Feillu (FRA), Agritubel 68

In the race for the polka-dot jersey, Riccardo Ricco leads, with a 12-point advantage over his teammate David de la Fuente. We may see Ricco add to that today, especially if he’s serious when he says he won’t be contesting the overall in this Tour. A best-young rider and polka-dot jersey would be a fine prize.

Overall KOM
1. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), Saunier Duval 77 pts
2. David De la Fuente (ESP), Saunier Duval 65
3. Sebastian Lang (GER), Gerolsteiner 57
4. Bernhard Kohl (AUT), Gerolsteiner 50
5. Frank Schleck (LUX), CSC 46
6. Leonardo Piepoli (ITA), Saunier Duval 41
7. Juan Jose Cobo (ESP), Saunier Duval 36
8. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP), Caisse d’Epargne 31
9. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto 30
10. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), Liquigas 30

is nearing the end of the 3.8km neutral zone. Prudhomme is standing out of the sunroof of his car and about to drop the flag.

Prudomme signalled the start at 12:44 and the pace picked up over the first kilometer. No breaks, but we should be seeing some early attacks.

With the imposed absence of Barloworld’s Deunas, the peloton is down to 168 riders, meaning there have been 12 riders who have left the Tour so far.

If you have questions, comments or complaints, feel free to hit the “Contact our editors” link below our Live Update window. We’ll answer as many as we can and even post a few during today’s coverage.

the pace is picking up. There have been several digs, but no rider has been able to establish a significant advantage.

and Columbia are keeping tabs at the front of the peloton, which is an indication that the two teams are interested in keeping things under control at least until the first intermediate sprint at 19.5km.

the peloton is still intact. It looks like the field will remain that way until Saint-Bertrand de Comminges, where the first intermediate sprint will be contested.

have slipped off the front at the 16km mark. We don’t have an ID yet, nor do we have a time gap, so it’s likely to be less than 30 seconds.

as the peloton nears the first sprint mark, the escapees have been pulled back. The Credit Agricole team drove much of the chase, suggesting that Thor is interested in grabbing points there, too.

The peloton has reached the intermediate sprint and Cofids’s Leonardo Duque scored six points by crossing first, leading Credit Agricole’s Thor Hushovd (4pts) and Rabobank’s Oscar Freire (2pts).

After the St. Bertrand de Comminges sprint, the top ten in the points race have changed very little:

Overall Points
1. Oscar Freire (ESP), Rabobank 133 pts
2. Kim Kirchen (LUX), Team Columbia 124
3. Thor Hushovd (NOR), Credit Agricole 109
4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), Caisse d’Epargne 96
5. Erik Zabel (GER), Milram 92
6. Mark Cavendish (GBR), Team Columbia 86
7. Riccardo Ricco (ITA), Saunier Duval 85
8. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld 82
9. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto 70
10. Romain Feillu (FRA), Agritubel 68

the peloton is still together. We might see some sort of escape form on the slopes of the Cat. 3 Col de Larrieu, but there are bound to be additional attempts before that.

We’ve seen several attempts by riders to break off the front, but they have all been neutralized.

Wait… there goes another. We have a lone rider taking a dig. We’ll try to ID the brave fellow as soon as we can.

Reader Adam C. writes in with an interesting bit of information:

Hi Live Update Guy! Thanks for doing the updates for those of us stuck at work.

Did you know that one man is currently in position to make history at the end of this years Tour?

Only five men have won the Lantern Rouge more than once: Daneil Masson (1922, 1923), Gerhard Schonbacher (1979, 1980), Mathieu Hermans (1987, 1989), Jimmy Casper (2001, 2004), and Wim Vansevenant (2006, 2007). If Wim Vansevenant wins the Lantern Rouge this year (a position he currently holds), he’ll not only be the first man to win it three years in a row, but the first to win three times at all. So please keep us updated on his progress.

Another Lantern Rouge Breakdown
Lantern Rouges by Nationality
France: 49
Belgium: 12
Italy: 8
Netherlands: 7
Spain: 5
Czechoslovakia: 3
Germany: 2
Luxemborg: 2
United Kingdom: 2
Austria: 2
Switzerland: 1
Algeria: 1

Well thank you, Adam. We have to admit that we have never researched the breakdown of the lantern rouge, so we’ll have to take your word for this. It’s an interesting bit of information. It’s surprising that the U.S. has never had a rider finish DFL in the Tour.

Our lone escapee was none other than Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), but the peloton was having none of that. The pulled him after 4.5km on the run. The peloton – once again riding as one big happy family – is at 33km, meaning we’re on track for one seriously fast opening hour.

We have 15 riders taking another shot at the 36km mark.

Four of the escapees have been pulled back. We’re still waiting to see who the remaining 11 are and if they have a chance to develop a gap.

are not gaining much ground. They have yet to break past a minute. There are two groups of two chasing.

Okay, we have names. The men in the lead group – with their positions on GC – are as follows:
35. Alexander Botcharov (RUS), Credit Agricole at 20:47
37. Ama‘l Moinard (FRA), Cofidis at 26:11
41. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ), Credit Agricole at 28:41
51. Koos Moerenhout (NED), Rabobank at 36:27
94. Pieter Weening (NED), Rabobank at 1:09:42
96. Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR), CSC at 1:10:30
98. Fabian Wegmann (GER), Gerolsteiner at 1:10:36
102. Benoit Vaugrenard (FRA), Francaise des Jeux at 1:13:28
124. Martin Elmiger (SUI), Ag2r at 1:27:40
136. Gert Steegmans (BEL), Quick Step at 1:34:27

now 13 riders, are 3:20 ahead of the field with two more riders giving chase.

The leaders are nearing the day’s first KOM. The average speed for the first hour was a zippy 48kph.

Okay, we have names. The men in the lead group – with their positions on GC – are as follows:
35. Alexander Botcharov (RUS), Credit Agricole at 20:47
37. Ama‘l Moinard (FRA), Cofidis at 26:11
41. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ), Credit Agricole at 28:41
51. Koos Moerenhout (NED), Rabobank at 36:27
77. Filippo Pozzato (ITA), Liquigas at 57:21
94. Pieter Weening (NED), Rabobank at 1:09:42
96. Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR), CSC at 1:10:30
98. Fabian Wegmann (GER), Gerolsteiner at 1:10:36
102. Benoit Vaugrenard (FRA), Francaise des Jeux at 1:13:28
122. Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Lampre at 1:26:50
124. Martin Elmiger (SUI), Ag2r at 1:27:40
136. Gert Steegmans (BEL), Quick Step at 1:34:27

Our leaders have crested the summit of the day’s first climb. They hold a 4:00 advantage over the peloton and about 1:30 on two pursuers… and there is one rider trailing out in no-man’s-land at 3:20.

The men in the lead crested the summit as a group, with only Steegmans being dropped on the trip up.
1. Alexandre Botcharov (Credit Agricole) 4 points
2. Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom) 3pts
3. Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) 2pts
4. Amael Moinard (Cofidis) 1pt

the leaders have upped their lead to 5:25. With Botcharov being the highest placed in the break and him at more than 20 minutes down on GC, we can expect the Silence Lotto team to let this one go. It’s going to be up to other teams, those with hopes of a stage win, to take up the chase.

That said, Silence Lotto is on the front. Hey, someone needs to be up there. The latest gap is 5:50.

Coming up on the second sprint, at Prat-Bonreapus at km69. Our dozen leaders are at about km65 with their lead at about 6 minutes.

Longo Borghini of the Barloworld team has left the race. He was involved in a crash earlier today.

This is the first time the Tour has used the exact route, which is west to east near the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Steegmans, who fell off the back of the break on the climb, is back in the peloton. The gap is approaching 8 minutes.

Hey Live Update Dude!!

My wife was asking the other day if there are any Canadian riders in this years tour? If not, when and who was the last one? She is by the way Canadian!!

Thanks,
Phil
Sacramento, California

Phil, Dude,

Garmin-Chipotle’s Ryder Hesjedal is the first Canadian since Gord Fraser to get in the Tour. Hesjedal is currently in 69th place and doing a fine job riding support for CVV.
(signed)
The LUD

Radio Free Tour is making a correction.

Rabobank’s Pieter Weening is NOT in the break (we were wondering why we never spied his jersey …) Instead, the 12th rider is Marco Velo of Milram. Velo is in 54th on GC, 24:28 behind, which makes him the second best-placed rider in the break, behind Alexander Botcharov, who is about 20 minutes behind.

We will of course keep you up on any breaking Velo news.

At the second sprint, Pozzatto got first place, followed by our man Velo and then Moerenhout. We’ll get a time split at the sprint line …

The 12 leaders are almost 9 minutes ahead of the Silence-Lotto led pack at the 69km mark.

The break is approaching the feedzone at St-Girons, KM84. Their gap continues to grow as the peloton is apparently taking it easy before the Col de Portel.

The Col de Portel is no slouch for a sortof “semi-mountainous” day: The first category climb tops out at Km110.0 and is 12.6 km long with an average gradient of 6.8 percent.

(And if you don’t know about percent grades, check out the Ask Mr. Live Update Guy Rest Day feature on the site yesterday.)

Our leaders had a 12-minute gap in the feedzone.

Oooops.

The time we gave for Marco Velo earlier was his stage 10 finish. On GC, the aptly named Italian is actually 40:19 back.

They have 14 minutes at the 85km mark.

Hey, Live Update Guy,

I’ll bite: que’st que la Lantern Rouge? – Jimmye

We believe the name comes from the lantern hung on the caboose of a train (think of red brake lights) and designates the last-placed rider on GC. At one point the rider was “awarded” a red jersey and reportedly, could even negotiate more generous start fees at post-Tour criteriums … The Tour organizers have downplayed the designation in recent years, however, not finding it terribly dignified.

The men out front are working well together on the Portel. If you don’t recall the climb from Tour yore, that’s because this is the first time the race has tried this particular ascent.

Coming at mid-stage, the Portel is unlikely to quickly enter the history books as the scene of great heroics, but we could see this break thin out a bit on the climb. And back in the peloton, Silence-Lotto may have to contain some attacks.

This is one of those narrow Pyrenees climbs, barely wider than a golf cart. Their gap is over 14 minutes.

Meanwhile the peloton is being led by Evans’ Silence Lotto mates, although there are some Garmin riders near the front, also.

with 6km to go the top, Cofidis’ Ama‘l Moinard is attacking and opening a gap. Pozzato is calmly leading the front of the break.

Up front, we have Cofidis’ Moinard alone with about a minute gap over his 11 former breakaway companions.

Here’s the eleven, with their GC standing:

35. Alexander Botcharov (RUS), Credit Agricole at 20:47
41. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ), Credit Agricole at 28:41
51. Koos Moerenhout (NED), Rabobank at 36:27
52. Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA), Bouygues Telecom 36:27
59. Marco Velo (ITA), Milram at 40:19
77. Filippo Pozzato (ITA), Liquigas at 57:21
78. Beno”t Vaugrenard (FRA), Francaise des Jeux 24:28
96. Kurt Asle Arvesen (NOR), CSC at 1:10:30
98. Fabian Wegmann (GER), Gerolsteiner at 1:10:36
122. Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Lampre at 1:26:50
124. Martin Elmiger (SUI), Ag2r at 1:27:40

Meanwhile, back in the peloton, halfway up the Col de Portel, Oscar Pereiro has attacked the Silence-Lotto led “chase” and quickly opened a gap.

Silence Lotto has spread out across this narrow road, effectively preventing any more attacks …

The Frenchman is enjoying a sizeable gap as he comes over the top -almost two minutes ahead of the eleven-man group.

And now CSC has snuck past the Wall of Silence, and Cancellara and Voigt are leading the chase in the pack.

Pereiro has more than a minute gap over the yellow jersey group. The eleven-man break is approaching the summit of the Portel.

At the summit, Moinard has 1:46 over the eleven-man group, which, though we’d like to call it the “Velo Group,” we should probably dub the “Botcharov Group,” since Alexander Botcharov is the best placed rider in there, at 20:47 behind race leader Cadel Evans.

Meanwhile CSC is leading the chase after Pereiro.

Fofonov, Wegmann, Fedrigo and Ballan had a bit of a gap over the others in the Botcharov group as they came over the Portel, but we expect the group will come back together on the long descent.

Moinard, though, appears to be lighting out for the territories. He still has 57km to go to the finish …

What’s Pereiro up to?

Clearly Caisse d’Epargne, so visible in the Tour’s first week, has had a change of tactics since Valverde fell off most lists of GC favorites.

But the team still has two strong cards to play with Valverde — always a stage win threat — in 14th at 4:41, and Pereiro in 17th at 6:01.

Peireiro’s move may force Silence Lotto to chase to protect Evans’ lead, opening the door a bit wider for Valverde to attack at the end …

Always a good spot to get time checks.

Our lone leader, Moinard, went over 16:30 ahead of the peloton.

IN between, we had the group of 11 at about 1:50, then Pereiro at about 14:40 behind Moinard.

Colombian Felix Cardenas has dropped out. Not a good day for the Barlo Boys.

Moinard has about 31 km to go and he’s got about two minutes ahead of the Botcharov group.

The race still gets to go up and over the Col Del Bouich at Km145.0. The 5.2-km category 3 climb averages 3.8 percent.

he’s holding his lead, although the group of 11 is working hard to bring him back.

With their huge gap over the peloton, SOMEONE from those original 12 is likely to get the stage win, and they aren’t in a mood to cede it to Moinard. When they get to the top of the Col Del Bouich, they have 22.5k to go.

With Cardena’s departure, the British-registered team is down to just five.

You will recall that Mauricio Soler dropped out with a broken wrist, then Moises Duenas was kicked out this morning with a positive EPO test.

Then today Barlo lost Paolo Longo to a crash and Cardena to, we believe, a knee issue.

His gap over the 11 is down to about 1 minute. If they keep working together … the Live Update Guy’s money is on Pozzato, but the 11 can’t start thinking about games yet, because Moinard is not slowing.

He is still just under one minute ahead of the CSC-led peloton, which trails Moinard by more than 14 minutes.

We almost forgot the KOM points. For those keeping score at home:

1. Moinard 4pts
2. Ballan 3pts – at 1’05″
3. Arvesen 2pts
4. Velo 1pt

for Moinard. He has just 25 seconds.

He’s pushing it through some sweeping turns, but the 11 almost have him in sight.

He has less than 15 seconds over the chase. Ballan took a flyer off the chase but is back in the fold.

Back in the back, Pereiro is getting sucked back in.

The last kilometer is gradually uphill with a tight left turn about a half k before the line.

Not giving up, he has maybe 10 seconds, but he’s not conceding. The chasers are starting to play cat and mouse a bit, some gaps opening …

He’s back in the pack.

Moinard holding 4s

Allesandro Ballan, after his attack, is sitting at the back, and the group has not – not quite! – caught Moinard.

Moinard is caught, now he is trying to hang on to two riders who are taking off – Arvensen and Elmiger

Moinard can not stay with Arvesen and Elmiger. They have a 100 meters on the others.

Ballan is chasing the pair.

with 2k to go, Ballan has caught Arvesen and Elmiger

Arvesen countered just as Ballan caught, then sat up, now Ballan is sitting in, dangerously.

1k to go

CSC’s Arvesen holds it as Ballan almost closes at the line

Moerenhout caught the lead three just as the sprint was beginning, and got gapped again, he held fourth.

It will be a quarter hour before the yellow jersey come in. Remember that Evans has just one second over Frank Schleck …

The French climber was away by himself from the lower slopes of the Col de Portal until, what? 4k to go? He wins the most aggressive rider award for the day.

Our stage winner will be showered and on the bus by the time the yellow jersey arrives

It’s been 10 minutes since Arvesen’s win …

That will give the Auxiliary Back-up part-time Live Update Dude plenty of time to eat crow for his premature stage win call of Pozzato back there 20 kilometers ago. He ended up 7th:

1. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (NOR) CSC
2. Martin Elmiger (SUI) ALM – at same time
3. Alesssandro Ballan (ITA) LAM – at same time
4. Koos Moerenhout (NED) RAB – at 2″
5. Alexandre Botcharov (RUS) C.A – at 11″
6. Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA) BTL – at 14″
7. Filippo Pozzato (ITA) LIQ – at 14″
8. Benoit Vaugrenard (FRA) FDJ – at 14″
9. Fabian Wegmann (GER) GST – at 14″
10. Marco Velo (ITA) MRM – at 14″
11. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ) C.A – at 14″
12. Amael Moinard (FRA) COF – at 29″

At the 1km kite

Green jersey points for the top 20 today …

Thor Hushovd gets the pack sprint for 13th place, over Zabel.

The boys are here, no changes on the GC except that Botchorov moves up the standings a fair chunk. But Evans is still in yellow, with Frank Schleck still 1s back. We’ll get you Botchorov’s place and then wish you a good day … stand by … he picked up about 14:40 on the yellow jersey

Botcharov moved up to 18th place, at 6:07 behind Evans, now. Oddly, that puts him one place and 6 seconds behind Oscar Pereiro, who tried to shake up the standings today.

Thanks for following along. We’ll check you tomorrow for stage 12, a 168km jaunt from Lavelanet to Narbonne.